“This marks the first time that Enet has managed infrastructure across the island of Ireland,” said Conal Henry, CEO of the company.

“Enet’s experience is that, over time, the existence of an open access network has a vital and major impact on the range, quality and value of communications solutions for businesses and homes.”

South of the border, connectivity throughout Ireland has surged in the early months of 2017. Earlier this week, Vodafone and Siro revealed plans for a new national Gigabit Hub initiative to digitally transform business prospects in 15 Irish towns.

Modelled on the Ludgate Hub in Skibbereen, the programme will provide 1Gbps connection to qualifying business, tech and start-up hubs for free, for up to two years.

Vodafone claimed earlier this month to be Ireland’s first mobile operator to reach 1Gbps speeds on a live mobile network.

The speed was achieved in Dublin by transmitting files to a mobile phone in real-life conditions.

Meanwhile, Eir said it is on track to reach 1.9m premises with high-speed broadband by the end of 2018, adding that 500,000 customers are now using fibre-based services.

However, all of this forward planning does little to appease those struggling to connect to the internet right now.